I’ve long thought that South Jefferson, south of where I-44 cut a gash through the city, is a fascinating relic of what a major Nineteenth Century artery in St. Louis looked like. It do not believe Jefferson was ever widened in the Early Twentieth Century, so it preserves the look of the way it looked for over one hundred years.

With some exceptions of course, but for the most part, Second Empire building predominate, and it creates for beautiful streetscapes.

Originally, in many American cities, the wealthy lived on major arteries, before the automobile made such streets undesirable due to noise.

Romanesque Revival architecture creeps in as well.

Make sure to join me this Thursday, February 21st at 10:30 AM for my lecture on the St. Louis Place neighborhood as part of Johnny Rabbit’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” in the Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum.